It Takes Effort
by ForTheLoveofTigerLilies
Summary: He was a rough sophomore.She was a delicate junior. He could get all the girls he wanted.She only wanted one and at that moment, had him. Two completely different people, Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki butt heads. Full summary inside. EVENTUAL Ichiruki


**Lele: Hello hello! I'm sorry that I haven't updated my other story, but I'm having an excrutiating writer's block with it! Hopefully, I'll be able to update soon.**

**Anyway. Moving ahead: this is my first ever Bleach Fanfiction so if there are any mistakes at all, please review and let me know of my errors regarding the information of characters.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.**

**Summary: He was able to make heads turn and girls drop to worship the ground he walked on. She was the intelligent girl who stood up for what she believed in. They come from two completely different Circles. A new school joins the North and South, forcing those circles to overlap.**

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Groaning loudly, Ichigo shook his head and slowly began to push himself off the ground. Rukia had stormed off, a smirking Gin jogging to keep pace. Ichigo sighed. "I think I just lost twenty bucks"

A hand reached out from under the gray comforter, reaching for the nuisance that was the alarm clock to the right of the bed, sitting on the nightstand. A groan from each of the dormitory's inhabitants expressed the mutual desire to want to stay in bed. The boy that had turned off the alarm clock reached for a spare pillow, throwing it across the room where it would land the other boy's head. "Kaien." Kaien, the older of the two boys, could only let out another groan. "Mmmm?" The first boy, Ichigo, was now dragging himself out of bed. He headed for the shared closet, grabbing a pair of dark blue straight-legged jeans, pulling them over the boxers he had worn to sleep. Switching the white v-neck shirt he had slept in with a new clean one, he finished the outfit off with the classic black and white converse and a rather large black chunky watch.

From his nightstand's drawer, he retrieved his tooth brush and tooth paste, heading towards the door to visit the communal bathroom of the Male's dorm, but not before looking at the still in bed Kaien. "Bro, get the fuck up." From the corner of Ichigo's eye, he saw the distinct middle finger of his long time friend. With a frustrated grunt, Ichigo managed to drag Kaien out of bed, the heavy body hitting the cold floor with a thump. The sudden change in temperature from Kaien's warm bed to the cold floor was enough to wake the 18 year old boy up. Before Kaien was up on his feet to sock his best friend in the face, Ichigo had closed to the door behind him on his way out.

The communal bathroom was like every other boys' bathroom you'd find at a boarding school. About eight sinks against one wall, the other wall containing numerous shower heads and curtains. On the opposite wall from the door were three bathroom stalls and four urinals. At one of the sinks, Ichigo looked at his reflection in the mirror. The first thing him, and anyone else for that matter, would notice would be the bright orange hair. He shook his head then ran a hand through the short locks, fussing it up until he was content with how it looked. He then bent forward and washed his face, splashing the cold water on his skin. Just as he turned the faucet off to look for his towel, said soft material hit him in the side of the face.

"Idiot." Kaien was now beside the younger male, dressed in some dark blue straight-legged jeans and a black v-neck. Dabbing his face dry, the proceeded to brush his teeth, just as Ichigo did. Brushing up and down, left and right, Kaien Shiba admired his reflection. He was now in dark blue jeans and a black v-neck. There wasn't much difference in facial structure when it came to Ichigo and Kaien, some even mistook them for brothers, sometimes twins. The obvious differences however were the hair color, length and the height. While Ichigo stood at a good 5 feet and ten inches, Kaien was able to stand taller with about two inches.

Finished with the normal morning hygiene, both boys left the bathroom, but not before bumping shoulders with two other boys. The first was a shorter red head with tattoos adorning his head and chest, which was bare for he had not worn a shirt. It seemed as if that boy had a permanent scowl upon his face. The other boy, behind him, was exceptionally tall. In fact, he was taller than even Kaien by a good three inches. His black hair flowed down to about mid-chest, and his dark eyes seemed listless. As they left, Kaien and Ichigo murmured in unison, "Snobs." As the door closed, the two remaining in the bathroom scoffed in reply, "Brutes."

A purple haired fifteen year old freshman sat at the bench by the fountain of the courtyard, swinging her lithe legs back and forth. It was obvious she was impatient. "Where is everyone else?" Rangiku Matsumoto, a sophomore who had unfortunately flunked the year before leaned against the bench, her arms crossed under her rather large chest. The ginger headed female bit on her lower lip, keeping a look out for the rest of their comrades. "Senna, shut up. They'll get here when they get here." With a roll of her eyes, Senna stomped on her feet and forced herself to get up. As she was about to give the big-breasted woman a piece of her mind, she spotted a few more faces she had recognized. Jumping up and down, she waved her hands above her head in the air as if to get their attention. "Shuuhei! Ikkaku, over here!" The two people called out slowly made their way to the center of the courtyard, both rather irked to be there. Behind them were two girls. One had a rather boyish hairstyle, dressed in a plaid shirt, black skinny jeans, and a beanie covering the back of her head. The other girl had a stoic expression on her face, dark black hair tied at the base of her neck. Her attire was rather simple, a black and white pin striped button up and some dark blue jeans. "We brought along Tatsuki and Nemu."

Ikkaku Madarame was a 4th year student. He was dressed in some gray jeans, a maroon sweater, and a matching maroon beanie. His companion, Shuuhei Hisagi, was also a senior. He was in a blue plaid shirt, dark blue jeans and a white v-neck. The most prominent feature of his was the numbers '69' tattooed upon his left cheek. One could only guess what it stood for.

"It's about time!" Senna was obviously not the most patient person of the group. "Now, all we have to do is wait for I—" She stopped mid-sentence, catching sight of the subjects of her sentence. "Well well well. Look who's fashionably late." Four boys made their way to join the others, all standing above six feet, well except for Ichigo, though he was pretty close. Among the four were Ichigo Kurosaki and Kaien Shiba. The other two were two even taller boys. One was very dark skinned, his hair falling over his eyes. He wore dark ripped at the knees jeans and a black long sleeved shirt. "Awh, and they brought Chad!" Senna smiled happily. Tatsuki rolled her eyes and laughed. "Not too sure about that. I think Chad brought them." Chad joined the group before the other three did. Shuuhei went to greet the last of the two. "Grimmjow Jeagerjaques!" The two boys grabbed hands and gave each other the formal 'bro-hug.' Grimmjow, safe to say, was the tallest of Ichigo, Kaien, Shuuhei, and himself. He was dressed in a white v-neck shirt, a black jacket on top, and some dark blue jeans. "And The Charming have been reunited." Tatsuki shook her head, glancing over at the four boys.

Senna, with a huge smile on her face, skipped over to Ichigo, biting on her lower lip as she thought of something to say. "Hey." Ichigo looked down at the purple haired girl, dressed in an overly huge sweater and some black leggings. "Uhh. Hey." Senna's face grew pink. That one simple word produced butterflies in her stomach. Senna and Ichigo had a fling over the summer. It was extremely short lived. Ichigo had thought that Senna was cute. Senna had fallen head over heels for that simple fact. They never made it past two weeks. Senna was clingy, Ichigo was a flirt. Everyone saw it coming.

Shuuhei put an arm around his shorter ex-girlfriend: Tatsuki Arisawa. He liked girls with spunk. She liked boys that could handle her. "Hey, buns." Though they had broken up, they were able to maintain a healthy friendship. "We should get to class." Tatsuki looked at her cellphone's digital clock. The group then split up by class. Senna was the only freshman and stood by herself. Ichigo, Chad, Matsumoto, and Tatsuki stood aside, they were the sophomores. Grimmjow and Nemu were the only juniors of the group. Shuuhei, Shiba, and Ikkaku made up the seniors. Ichigo and his group were the first to leave, turning to head towards the building. "We'll see you guys later."

The first class that Ichigo and Tatsuki had was chemistry. Ichigo stuffed his hands into his jean pockets and walked into class, his best friend following behind them. As they entered, they noticed that everyone was standing against the walls of the classroom. With a raised brow, Ichigo looked at the desks, all empty. A ginger headed girl noticed this and spoke up with a huge smile on her face. "Mr. Kurotsuchi is assigning seats. I'm Orihime by the way!" The first thing Ichigo had noticed about the girl was the size of her breasts behind a floral printed top. They were almost as huge as Matsumoto's. Almost. The second thing he recognized, or rather didn't, was the fact he hadn't seen her at his school at all. He'd know. With boobs the size as hers? It only meant one thing. North. Tatsuki noticed this too and gave a bitter smile. "Thanks, I think we could have figured that one out ourselves." Orihime's face didn't falter. In fact she only let out a giggle. "Oh, ahaha. Sorry, my mistake. What are your names?" Before Tatsuki could come back with some insult, Ichigo gave a smirk to the shorter ginger. "Ichigo Kurosaki. This is Tatsuki." Tatsuki was defeated and she knew this. That smirk of his only meant one thing. He wanted her. It was the infamous smirk that belonged to "The Charming". Tatsuki only gave a weak smile in response. Orihime's smile only widened upon introduction. "Nice to meet you, Ichigo! This is Uryuu, by the way." She motioned to the boy beside her, slightly taller, but rather short compared to Ichigo. He had rectangular framed glasses, wearing khakis and a rather nerdy sweater. Ichigo scoffed. "Nice to meet you." He only got a push of glasses up the bridge of Uryuu's nose as a response.

The teacher at the front of the class room cleared his throats. "Okay, you pests. This is my lab. I will seat you, only because I don't want any disturbances. Chemicals can be very tricky. I doubt anyone would want to be blown up. I'l tell you right now, I may be hold responsible for a missing leg, but we all know you screwed up." Mr. Mayuri Kurotsuchi picked up the paper and starting arranging the students. It was no wonder he would pair one Northern student with a Southern student. The North was a rather rich part of town, while the South wasn't poor, but just moderate. In the previous years, there were too separate schools. Unfortunately, the South Academy's buildings were set on fire one night after a highly celebrated holiday and the districts thought that it would be appropriate for the two schools to join as one until they South Academy was reconstructed. The renamed the Northern Academy to the Central Academy. Many people questioned the administration's originality.

Ichigo was perfectly fine with his seats. He was sitting next to Orihime Inoue, the ginger from before, and some other rather attractive female. Tatsuki on the other hand was stuck between Uryuu Ishida and some guy that was constantly on his cell phone. This was going to be a rather interesting year.

* * *

Mr. Hirako Shinji sat at his desk, his ankles crossed on top of it. Leaning back into his chair, he watched as the students took their preferred seats. He only shook his head as the last seat was filled. He blew a strand of blonde hair that had slipped from it's place and stood up, straightening his black tie and flattening his orange dress shirt. "Sorry, class, but rules are rules and the Principal has given orders that everyone must be seated in alternating patterns. If you couldn't guess, it's North South North South and so on." A group groan filled the math class room. Taking out a seating chart that he hadn't made, only because he thought it was absolutely pointless, he walked to the front desk, placing his hand on it and calling a student's name.

He got around the middle of the class room and called for, "Byakuya Kuchiki." The tall black haired young man dressed in a black dress shirt and black jeans took his seat, placing his notebooks neatly in front of him. Grimmjow, Kaien, and Ikakku only scoffed at his stiffness. Mr. Shinji put his palm on the next desk, reading of the list rather bored. "Grimmjow Jyah... Jea..." With a roll of his light blue eyes, Grimmjow pushed himself off the side of the wall, for his seat had been taken originally, and moved to sit beside the tall Kuchiki. "Jagger-Jack. It isn't that hard." The teacher shrugged his shoulders. "Well you try pronouncing a 'Q U E S' after coming back from Cancun." Grimmjow laughed, he'd like this teacher. The next student was called to sit beside Grimmjow. "Rukia Kuchiki." A rather short girl took her seat next to the rather tall Grimmjow. She was wearing a cream colored satin tank top with black buttons down the middle, tucked into her navy blue jeans. Grimmjow looked up and down at the girl. Attractive, but extremely short. Beside her, Kaien took a seat. Kaien noted the same. Unfortunately for Kaien, Grimmjow acted first. "Hi. I'm Grimmjow. You can call me Grim."

Rukia's head turned towards him and what he saw almost made his jaw drop. Sure he was a guy and she was a girl. But through all his years deemed as part of a group called "The Charming", he had never seen eyes like hers. The way her full lashes sweeped as she blinked at him, the opening of her eyes to reveal a lustrous purple hue. She was innocent, she wasn't some snobby bitch from the North. Then she spoke. "Rukia Kuchiki. Nice to meet you." Her voice held no trace of rudeness, only genuine kindness. He knew about the Kuchikis. They owned several estates in the closest three towns. The Kuchikis had two children, both of which were exceptionally smart. The Kuchikis were some of the highest paid workers of Google Cooperation. That search engine raked in big money. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Kuchiki. I'm sure we'll get along fine." Just then, Grimmjow felt something shift on his left side. "I hope we will too, then. I'm Byakuya. Kuchiki." Byakuya put emphasis of his last name, obviously hinting that he was Rukia's brother. Kaien raised a brow. "Are you guys twins or something?" Rukia shook her head, laughing softly. "I'm a junior." It was Grimmjow's turn to raise his brow. "And you're taking Calculus?" Again, the girl shook her head. "Actually, I'm taking Honors Calc. There weren't enough students for the Honors class, so they made the Honors class and normal class join. Honors calc students just get more homework than the rest." Grimmjow nodded, starting to understand. "And... exactly how many students are in the Honors Calc class?" Rukia bit on her lower lip, shrugging her shoulders as if she were trying to hide form all the questions. "...One." Kaien laughed and looked over at Byakuya. "Your younger sister is smarter than even you!" Byakuya gave a chuckle. "Actually. I get more homework than the Honors and regular Calc class. I even have to stay after school for more lecture. I'm in AP Calc." Grimmjow and Kaien felt incredibly stupid. They barely managed to pass trigonometry and here they were sitting by the all-knowing math nerd Kuchiki siblings. It was then they realized Ikakku wasn't sitting anywhere near by. Kaien Shiba looked around the class room and spotted Ikkaku in the back right corner. "Pft, loner."

Class went by fast considering the teacher really didn't care for first days or first impressions. Ikkaku soon joined the four of them once he realized this. Surprisingly, the group of students got together nicely. Well, rather Rukia, Grimmjow, Kaien, and Ikakku did. Byakuya stayed quiet. But they supposed that was just how he was. Kaien didn't exactly want to associate himself with the older Kuchiki anyway. He realized that he was the punk from the bathrooms earlier this morning. The bell rang and Byakuya was out of the class in a dash. Rukia gathered her things in her olive green canvas backpack, a few buttons of "Chappy! The bunny" pinned on to it's covering flap. She then fished out her schedule from a binder, trying to locate her next class. "Theatre..." Grimmjow and Kaien were suddenly at Rukia's side, trying to peek at her schedule. "With Kyoraku?" One of them said. Rukia nodded, smiling. "Do you two have that class as well?" They both nodded. "Yeah we do, actually." Kaien grabbed Rukia's binder and books and took it upon himself to carry them for her to class. Grimmjow only laughed. It was extremely like Kaien to offer his assistance. Such a gentleman. But the remaining three of The Charming knew what went down. Grimmjow patted the small Kuchiki's head and sighed. "Careful about that one." She only nodded and all three of them went towards the theatre. Rukia then looked back, finding that Ikkaku was going the opposite direction. "Not coming?" Ikkaku was taken off guard by Rukia's welcoming attitude and raised a brow. "Uh, nah. I got free. I'll be in the quad." Rukia only nodded and waved goodbye before catching up with Grimmjow and Kaien.

They entered the theatre, taken back by the number of rows and the size of such a huge stage. It was so elegant! It was nothing compared to the old stage back at North Academy. Rukia spotted a few friends and quickly ran to them. Grimmjow and Kaien joined their own friends, Ichigo and Shuuhei. "This is going to be a hell of a class." Nemu, for the first time that day, spoke. "What?" Senna snapped out of her day dream and looked towards Nemu was a questioning expression. "What do you mean by that?" Nemu pointed at the flock of females at the opposite size of the stage, staring at the four boys.

Rangiku was talking to Rukia, a surprising sight. A north girl with a south girl? Well, from what Grimm and Kaien had experienced, Rukia wasn't really scared of the south. Matsumoto was a very friendly girl. Extremely friendly, especially when drunk. The ginger let out a sigh. "Oh, it's The Charming." Orihime, a part of the class, raised a brow. "The Charming? What do you mean, Matsumoto?" A pink manicured finger pointed at the four boys. "Back at South Academy, they were considered the Charming." Nanao, a girl with circular rimmed glasses dressed in a black and navy blue pin stripped button up blouse tilted her head in confusion. "And um, why is that?" Matsumoto leaned against the stage, rolling her eyes. She was very guilty to falling for their charms, but she wouldn't let her new friends from the North know of it. While staring at the other side of the stage to the boys who were eying the female population, north and south, she started to explain. "Ichigo Kurosaki, the ginger. Kaien Shiba, the guy that looks like the ginger but taller, older, and with dark blue hair. Grimmjow Jagger-something- or-other," it seemed no one knew how to pronounce his name, "The really tall guy with the practically bleach blonde hair. And Shuuhei Hisagi, the boy with the sixty-nine tattooed on his cheek. They're the charming." Renji Abarai, the red head from the bathrooms earlier in the day, couldn't help at chuckle at the tattoo. "So, exactly why the names?" Matsumoto rolled here eyes again and sighed in frustrations. "I was getting there. Anyway, they're The Charming because well. They see a girl they like, they get them. Easy as that. Back at South Academy, they seemed to be the interest of every female student. But you were lucky if they chose you. You had to be extremely pretty to be picked by," At this point, Matusmoto had her fingers up in the air, like quotation marks, "The Gods."

"Oh," Rukia blinked, nodding her head somewhat. "That might be why Kaien was carrying my books to class." Matsumoto clicked her tongue and shook her head, wagging her finger in the air. "Be careful about that one, Kuchiki. He acts with chivalry." Rangiku Matsumoto and Kuchiki Rukia had met yesterday. They were room mates and had obviously hit it off from the start. Matsumoto felt like she had to warn Rukia about things, she just seemed too innocent. Renji cracked his knuckles with the palm of his opposite hand. "Chivarly, eh? Chivalry's about to be dead." Renji and Rukia had grown up together. Renji wasn't exactly the most studious of the rather rich kids, but he and Rukia were the best of friends. She kept him in line and without her, Renji would have already dropped out of school. He reminded her that she needed a life and dragged her out on the weekends. Without him, Rukia would probably never see the light of day. Well, he was one of the reasons for a social life anyway. Her other reason crept up behind her small form, snaking his arms about her tiny waist. "What's this about someone holding your books?" Matsumoto's eyes nearly shot out of their sockets. Lo and Behold the dashing young man behind Rukia. The Adonis was dressed in black skinny jeans, a black and white plaid shirt, and a beanie hanging from the back of his head. He had such a gorgeous smile on his face, one that sent chills down Matsumoto's spine. He spoke again as he noticed the new addition to his usual group staring at him "Um, hi?" Her brain wasn't exactly in service. "Hiii~" She dragged out her simple one worded greeting. Rukia laughed, leaning back into her boyfriend's chest. "Oh, my mistake, I forgot! Gin, this is my roommate, Matsumoto. Matsumoto, this is Gin. My boyfriend." Rangiku's eyes blinked quite a couple of times. She had no idea what Rukia did to land such a catch, but she wanted to learn whatever it was and quick. "Nice to meet you, Matsumoto. I hope Rukia hasn't been making a me-" Gin's sentence was cut off by Kaien Shiba's extended hand that held Rukia's binder and book. "Oh, my bad Rukia. These are yours." As he spoke, Kaien's dark eyes caught sight of the arms around the small Kuchiki's form. "Boyfriend, I take it?" Rukia could only blush and nod. Gin's smile turned fake, reaching his hand out over Rukia's shoulder to take her belongings. "Gin. And thanks." Kaien nodded, smirking somewhat. "Kaien." Kaien had enough respect that when he saw a girl with a boyfriend, he'd back away. But that wasn't the case for the three young men behind him. Shuuhei and Ichigo didn't really care at that point. Ichigo was more concerned with Orihime who was blushing under his stare. And Shuuhei kept his eyes on Nanao. However, for Grimmjow, this whole Kuchiki Rukia situation just became interesting.

"Class," a loud booming voice came from up on stage from a man with wavy brown hair tied back into a low pony-tail and slight brown beard. "I am Kyoraku. Address me as such. This year, in theatre, we are not just a class, but a theatrical family. Ichigo rolled his eyes and in surprising unison with Renji, scoffed, "Not this bullshit." Little did they know, Kyoraku had very keen hearing. "Red head. Ginger. Thank you for being our first volunteers." They both glared at each other as they walked on stage from opposite sides. "Actors, your names, please." Renji crossed his muscular arms over his chest. "Renji Abarai. Junior." Ichigo stuffed his hands in his pockets, "Ichigo Kurosaki. Sophomore." Kyaroku crossed arms over his chest, a smirk playing on his lips. "Awesome. As a theatrical family, and as any other family, members should be able to accept their faults given to them by another member. Kurosaki, you first." Ichigo smirked, this class was going to be a breeze. Criticizing rich snobs? Piece of cake. "Well first of all, just look at this guy. It's like he's got a pineapple on his head. And the tattoos? A little too much if you ask me. Kind of makes me wonder if we was born on an island. Pineapple and tribal tats. Sound like it to me. But then I remember, he's from the North. One of those rich snobs. They get everything handed to them on a silver fucking platter and they never have to work hard for whatever they want. They probably don't even know how to use a microwave. The only technology they know are their cell phones. Oh, and even with all that money, he still can't get anymore girls that I can." At first, the audience was filled with slight chuckles and giggles, specifically at the pine-apple comment. But as his speech went on, they audience back up and became silent, getting out of the way from a soon to explode Renji Abarai.

* * *

"Punk, you don't know shit about where I come from!" Renji, as expected, threw the first punch. It landed on Ichigo's jaw, sending him back a couple of feet. In a matter of seconds, Shuuhei, Grimmjow, Kaien, Senna, and Nemu were at Ichigo's side. Gin was holding Renji back by the arms, Orhime held onto his waist, and Nanao was at his side, scolding him in his ear. Rukia was between the two on stage, her arms out stretched as if to create a barrier with her body. She was facing Renji. "Renji, stop it! It's not even worth it. You're right, he doesn't know anything about you, but why punch him for it?" Renji was struggling to break free of his restraints. "'Cause that bitch doesn't know when to shut his mouth!" Ichigo rubbed his jaw and stood back up, dusting the dirt off of his jeans. For a really big stage at such a rich school, the floor was dirtier than his dorm. "Where'd you learn how to punch?" Ichigo took a couple steps forward, "This little bitch right here?" He reached over Rukia's shoulder and landed a punch straight at Renji's cheek. Hard bones of knuckles met with the hard bone of a cheekbone. But the impact wasn't enough to cause a fracture or anything of the sort. "Fuck." The students at Ichigo's side quickly restrained him. Kaien had one of Ichigo's arms, Shuuhei had the left one. Grimmjow was holding him back by his waist. Senna and Nemu stood back, shocked. Matsumoto was just watching everything. Who would she defend? That's when she saw Rukia's expression. As Ichigo threw the punch, Rukia's head had slowly turned and her purple eyes were glaring deeply at Ichigo Kurosaki. Something about it made Matsumoto rather unwell. Such a hateful expression didn't belong on such a kind girl. Matsumoto hopped on stage and got infront of Ichigo, pushing his shoulders back. "Let's go." Ichigo yelled at her face, "Are you kidding me? He called me a bitch!" Matsumoto's face became stern as she looked Ichigo straight in the eyes. Her normally warm voice turned cold and extremely serious. "Drop it. Let's go. Now." Ichigo knew not to mess with Matsumoto when she became that ticked off. And so did the rest of the students from South Academy. They all eased down and walked off stage, storming off and out of the theatre. Matsumoto looked back one last time to See Rukia still glaring daggers at Ichigo. She mouthed the words, "I'm sorry," to her friend and Rukia's expression softened as she shook her head.

* * *

It was lunch time and the North Academy students her were eating on the grass by the Sakura trees. Renji was obviously hit harder than he hit Ichigo and had an ice pack pressed against his bruising cheek. Isane, a girl with silver hair, held the freezing pack against Renji's skin. She took the pack off and dabbed carefully at the broken skin with a damp cloth. Momo Hinamori, a girl with brown hair tied up in a bun high on her head sighed. "Renji, you really need to work on your anger problems." Renji only chuckled. "He deserved it." Uryuu pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose after swallowing a bite of his peanut butter sandwich before joining the conversation "If it really was Ichigo from our Chemistry class, then yes. He did deserve it. I knew something was up with that guy." Yumichika, a boy with black hair cut in a bob with a few randomly colored peekaboos, looked at Renji with a brow raised. "My question is why are you stuck with an ice pack and he's not?" Kira, a long haired blonde male laughed. "Obviously, Renji failed. Should have kicked him in the balls." Gin chuckled and eyed Kira. "I'm sure that you would have." Kira glanced at Gin, then went back to eating his sushi. Orihime and Nanao worked on trying to get Renji to eat. Nanao sighed frustratingly, "Just eat something!" Her voice scared every one within the group and Renji finally took a bite of the offered rice and whatever mysterious food that was held up to his face by Orihime. "Yummy, right?" Renji swallowed reluctantly and could only nod. "M'hmmm." The rest of them laughed.

Byakuya and Rukia joined the rest of them with their lunches in their laps. Byakuya had prepared them both rice and barbeque chicken. Byakuya then noticed Renji's ice pack. "Did you lose to the door again, dimwit?" Renji fumed and shook his head, knocking Isane over from surprise. "No! Some Strawberry Shortcake socked me in the face!" Byakuya nodded, taking a bite from his Barbecue. "Oh, so it was a mirror." Rukia couldn't help but smile. She shook her head however and sighed. "No, Byakuya. It was some South Academy kid. Renji would have lost if the fight continued." Yumichika started to laugh. "Would have lost? I thought he did a really good job at losing even if only one punch was swung from each of them!" Kira, Byakuya, Uryu, and Gin all joined in with the laughter. Renji was left to sulk.

Rukia was about to take a seat to join the circle of friends next to Gin, but the fox faced man pulled the small Kuchiki by the waist and settled her into his lap. Before Rukia could save herself from whatever was coming, Gin had pressed his lips against hers. As one arm gripped at her waist, the other massaged the back of Rukia's scalp gently, applying a bit of pressure to keep her close to him. He pleaded for access into the cave of wonders that was her mouth, to which she graciously granted. Gin's tongue snaked its way to Rukia's, both tongues trying to fight for dominance. Gin's smile turned into a small smirk. Rukia always tried to win, but she never had. And if ever she did, of course he had let her. It was one of the things he liked about Rukia though, her will to fight. Too bad she was sometimes a bit too stubborn for her own good.

Rukia's hands roamed from Gin's chest and traveled to meet each other behind the silver haired boy's neck, her arms looping around loosely. She brought his body closer to hers, all the while, running her tongue against Gin's. His tongue did the same, mirroring Rukia's exactly. This elicited a groan from the junior.

At this point, all other friends in the circle went back to eating. It was normal. Gin and Rukia had been going steady since the last week of school before summer. 'Finally', everyone had thought. Rukia had always had a crush on her older brother's best friend. Maybe it was the fact that Gin would always visit since Byakuya and him would hang out together. Maybe it was the fact that Gin had always cared enough to ask how her day went and even noticed when something seemed to be on her mind. He would then offer to listen, but when she said that she didn't want to talk about it,he never pressed on. Or maybe it was 'cause he was just damn fine and a good kisser. The whole asking out thing was rather... unconventional.

Gin had an eye on Rukia for sometime, but never did he act or think anything of it. It was his best friend's younger sister. Bro Code, you know? But she grew older, she grew curves in all the right places, just enough for her size, and if not, just enough for him to like. One day after school during a rally, as usual they had a rally for reach day of the remaining week of school until summer, Rukia was dancing to the music blaring through the school's speakers. She was trying to teach Isane the shuffle. Gin, curious, wanted to learn too, unfortunately, he had somehow managed to fall on top of Rukia, a complete accident, and before he could hold back, he kissed her. It was chaste, but it was enough for the both of them. Realizing what he was doing, he pulled back and stared down at a rather shocked Rukia Kuchiki. It didn't take him long to register, and had soon asked, "Be mine?" She quickly replied with, "Yes."

Byakuya, the older brother he was, and Renji, the boy who had once crushed on Rukia, both coughed, rather loudly, to get their attention. When that failed, Renji stared at them with a dull look on their face. "I'm trying to eat here!" It failed too. It was only when Byakuya cleared his throat and said, "Best friend and younger sister making out in front of me? That's no problem at all," did they finally separate. Both were gasping for air. The older Kuchiki of the group rolled his eyes and threw Gin a roll of sushi. "I can't stop you two, but take breaks to breathe once in awhile. I don't know where I'd be without my sister." Gin raised a brow, faking hurt. "What about me, Byakuya-nii." He was, of course, imitating Rukia. She glared at him. Byakuya went back to his food. "What? You can take care of yourself. You're a big boy now." Upon Gin's best friend's words, he smirked and looked down to Rukia who was too busy eating her own lunch. Before he could verbally express the out of context idea, Byakuya chucked Uryuu's unfinished sandwich in his face. "That's disgusting. We can talk about that stuff about any other girl, but God, not my sister."

Rukia looked around the circle and noticed something missing. She stood up and smiled, trying not to laugh at Uryuu's face as he yelled at Byakuya about his sandwich. "Drinks anyone?" After about going over everyone's orders three times out loud and once in her head, Rukia turned around to get the appropriate beverages.

The South Academy students were having lunch a little ways away from the North Academy ones. They were sitting by the Willow trees. The subject of most of their conversations were about Ichigo winning such a pathetic fight. Senna was praising him like no other, and Tatsuki was threatening to gag herself with a fork if 'someone' didn't shut up. All but Senna understood. Matsumoto stayed quiet.

Grimmjow finished his burger then looked towards Kaien. "So, bro. Give up on Kuchiki?" Kaien swallowed the last of his hotdog. "Eh. She has a boyfriend. Just gotta wait." Grimmjow laughed and shook his head. "You can wait. I'm all over that." Ichigo raised a brow questioning,"What girl are we talking about?" Grimmjow leaned back against the trunk of the Willow Tree, folding his arms behind his head and his eyes closing. "Black hair. Pale skin. Nice bubble butt..." That's right, he was checking her out on stage. "...Real pretty eyes." Kaien added as he laughed, "Girl with boyfriend." Shuuhei his head. They were missing the one thing Ichigo would remember her by. Well, two things, really. "The girl in front of Renji." Ichigo looked over at the three of them with a raised brow. "I thought her name was Inoue Orihime." And that was when the second one would come. "The short 'bitch'."

Ichigo almost laughed and choked on the food Senna was feeding him. "That midget? What the hell do you guys see in her? She looks twelve!" Grimmjow and Kaien both shook their heads. "You're more shallow than we are. And that's saying something." Grimmjow spotted the Kuchiki walking across the courtyard. "Look, over there. I'll bet you twenty bucks you can't land her." Ichigo's amber eyes looked over at the short girl, "Doesn't she have a boyfriend?" Kaien and Shuuhei shrugged. "That never stopped you before." Ichigo couldn't help but smirk. "Good point." Chad, Nemu, Tatsuki, and Ikakku all ate their food silently. This happened a lot. Senna was feeling a bit hurt, hearing Ichigo talking about another girl. Matsumoto felt anger within her blood as they talked about a girl that was so kind and sweet to anyone, as long as they gave her a right to be. "Deal."

Gin, who had left the circle of friends to escape Uryuu's yelling, Renji's hisses at the cold ice, and Nanao's fearful outbursts for him to eat, finally caught up to Rukia to help her with the drinks. He had come up behind her and grabbed her hand to which she momentarily stopped for him to walk beside her. Matsumoto saw this and smiled. Ichigo was pretty heartless, but he always stopped when some sort of innocent affection was displayed. Maybe it was because he had and probably could never have that. Her assumptions were right, Ichigo had backed down. The ginger headed boy looked back to Grimmjow. "Maybe later, though. After school. Don't wanna start a fight and have a teach see it. I'll go find her. She'll probably be in the library." He snickered. What a nerd.

* * *

It was the last period of class for Grimmjow, Ichigo, Orihime and Rukia. Thankfully for Grimmjow, his last class of the day was an easy A. The teacher seemed to be a real nut case too. Mr. Love, was it? He had a star shaped afro and some circular shades that rested on the bridge of his nose despite the wonderfully sunny day they were experiencing. The class room was more of a huge adorned with instruments that decorated the surrounding walls. The thing was this was only the rooms that stored the instrument room. The whole music class had its own wing. It was to help students concentrate in their own sound proof rooms. As if to demonstrate the beautiful acoustics of the specific room, Mr. Love clapped his hands. "Listen here, kids. I'll be assigning you to the instrument you feel most comfortable with." In a rough shuffle of unorganized assignments, students went to fetch their proper instruments.

The comical looking teacher stopped by Grimmjow, Ichigo, Rukia, and Orihime, oh so conveniently placed to sit at the same table. Love looked down at the redheaded female first. "So, what about you? You good at anything?" Orihime placed a finger on her pale lips, thinking "Hmmm. Well I'm learning piano! Umm, but I'm pretty good at the violin." Ichigo raised his brow at her unexpected musical talent. He really wasn't expecting that from such a hottie, but then again: she did originally attend this school. Love nodded and looked toward the second of the two redheads. "And you, kid?" He simply replied, "Guitar." Mr. Love's eyes glanced over to Grimmjow, who immediately started playing the air guitar. "Same, man. I can shred on a guitar any day any time!" Love laughed and crossed his arms over his chest in approval. "I like you, kid. What about you?" Rukia sighed and as she opened her mouth to speak, Ichigo interrupted her. "Give her the triangle. Bet she can't play a thing." He knew it was wrong, but it was a chance to insult a rich midget.

She only rolled her eyes and listed the instruments she could play from the top of her head. "Let's see. Orihime and I originally took violin classes when we were eight. I also play the flute, the harp, the cello, oh! The clarinet, and I'm exceptionally great at playing the piano. I've been playing since I was five." It was Ichigo's turn to roll his eyes as he listened to miss goody two shoes' list. Finally, she was done when Mr. Love spoke. "Anything you can't particularly do?" Rukia frowned a bit. "Guitar. And... sing."

Grimmjow leaned his chair back into its original position after trying to balance himself on the chair's back legs. "You can't sing? It's easy. Maybe you've just never tried." Ichigo scoffed, saying, "I bet she's tone deaf." Mr. Love laughed, "Nonsense! She can't be tone deaf if she plays the harp. Well, this class is designed to work and improve your skills or even gain new skills if you should want. So go on ahead, you guys. Go get your instruments." They all pushed out of their desks. As they left to fetch their desired instruments, Love called back over to Rukia. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Orihime smiled and placed a hand on Rukia's shoulder. "I'll meet you in one of the piano rooms." Rukia nodded and as the other three left her, Rukia walked over towards Mr. Love's desk.

"Yes, Mr. Love?" She stood in front of his desk, nervously. Had she done something wrong on the first day? A smile flashed on the older man's face. "You know, the rooms are sound proof and are always open before and after school until six thirty. So if you do decide you want to sing, the art wing's rooms are a great place to do so. No one will hear you." Rukia gave a kind smile back, nodded and bowed her head before exiting the instrument hall.

Rukia found the piano room easily, spotting a long haired redhead. Turning the knob, she was met with the most beautiful grand piano. It was a sleek black, so polished and shiny she could see herself in the reflection even from her proximity. The dimmed lights added to the dreamy effect. Orihime had exposed the black and white keys, so detailed and clean, not a spec of dust was found. Her wonderful vision of the piano was disturbed when she realized it wasn't just her and Orihime in the room. Grimmjow and that Ichigo kid were there too. Orihime laughed nervously. "They.. kind of just followed me." Rukia shook her head, forcing a weak smile on her lips. "It's no problem."

Rukia took a seat on the cushioned piano bench, looking over at Orihime. "Can't believe you've stuck to the violin." The large chested girl shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I just have a knack for it." She shrugged her shoulders, almost whacking Grimmjow in the head with the bow. Ichigo laughed and held the acoustic guitar's neck with his right hand. "So, Orihime. Why don't you show us what you got?" Orihime's smiled and shook her head. "No way, you first Ichigo!" Ichigo shrugged and grabbed a stool. "Alright. Fair enough. You down, Grimm?" Grim, too, grabbed a stool positioning his guitar in his lap and his fingers on the strings of different frets. "Always." On Ichigo's count of four, both of them started to play. While Grimmjow strummed, Ichigo plucked the harmony. Orihime's face lit up and Rukia watched with interest. The song was about three minutes long and at their finish, both original North Academy girls clapped their hands. "That was good!" Rukia smiled at both the boys.

Ichigo ignored her compliment, eying Orihime. "Your turn." Orihime nodded and blushed, looking over to Rukia who was speaking with Grimmjow who leaned against the piano. "Oi, Rukia. Let's do Airplanes together!" Rukia's head turned in Orihime's direction with a huge smile on her face. "Sounds good to me!" Orihime stood erect, back straight, arms in position, held high. Her chin rested on the violin's chin pad and her fingers were positioned on it's strings. Rukia's fingers rested gently against the black and white keys, right foot rested on top of the piano's three pedals. Rukia started the song, playing the intro with her small nimble fingers that stretched and danced over the keys delicately. Orihime joined in with the intro after about three seconds of Rukia's playing. Both girl's started to get lost in their playing. Orihime had closed her eyes as she started to play the melody of the song. Rukia's eyes were soft as they focused on the keys and her fingers, hitting the right keys at the right octaves with precision. Ichigo's eyes widened in shock. Was it in a North Academy's blood to excel at basically everythng? Grimmjow was also impressed by both girls, but his eyes couldn't keep off Rukia's fingers. It amazed him how such small hands could cover so much ground. Half way through the song, Rukia subconsciously allowed herself to hum the song. Grimmjow noticed this. Ichigo was wrong when he had said that Rukia was tone deaf. Although it was just humming, she could at least carry a tune. But that wasn't it. Carrying a tune was basic, however her humming started to harmonize with Orihime's violin playing.

'Gotta get her to sing.' Grimmjow made a mental note. A girl with a good set of lungs was just the girl Grimmjow liked, if you know what I'm saying. They finished the song and Grimmjow's hands started to clap. Ichigo only nodded. "That was... awesome, Orihime." Again, he ignored the midget. The redheaded girl blushed at the compliment. Leaving Ichigo to flirt with Orihime, Grimmjow looked down at the much shorter sitting Rukia. "You're really good. Four years old, you say?" Rukia laughed and stood up, gently pushing the bench back. She cautiously placed the keys' lid back down. "Five, actually. But thanks." Grimmjow nodded. "Well, I heard you humming, and I bet you, you could sing." Rukia froze for a second, not realizing she had even hummed in the first place. She then shook her head after catching her frozen state. "Ha. Nah, you're mistaken. I wasn't even humming the melody!" Grimm rolled his eyes. "It was the harmony." 'Damn', Rukia thought. "Well.. uh." Then suddenly, the bell rang.

Thankfully, the tall bleach blonde boy let it go. "Awh, well next time Rukia. I got a little brunette waiting for me. Mihoshi... I think." Rukia called for him to come back as he rushed out. "Wait!" And he did, peeping head in. "Yeah?" Rukia sighed, unsure of why she was helping him. "Brunette, as tall as Orihime. Hazel eyes. And a big butt?" Grimmjow smirked, remembering the girl's ass. "Yeah, that's the one." Rukia rolled her eyes and laughed at his reaction. "That's Miyaka." Grimmjow made a face, "Oh shit. Thanks!" Rukia let out a final chuckle and shook her head. Grimmjow rushed back, pointing at Ichigo. "And don't forget!" Ichigo then smacked his face with his palm. "Fuck." Orihime raised an worried brow. "Are you okay, Ichigo?" He nodded and Orihime only smiled. She stood at the door, calling over to Rukia. "I have to find and rescue Renji from English class. We'll go get Gin and meet you by the fountain? We should all give Momo a tour of the campus. It's huge after all!" With that said, the happy Orihime turned her back to leave, her red hair swaying behind her.

'Great. It's just me and her.' Ichigo though as he looked towards the short girl.

Rukia was picking up her bag that Orihime had kindly taken in with her as she was speaking to Mr. Love. Rukia walked out of the sound proof room, Ichigo following her. She paid no attention, after all it was a narrow hallway and the main exit that led to the courtyard was the way she was going. She opened the door behind her and just about five feet away from the doors, she felt a strong hand grip her wrist. She thought it was Gin, until she met eyes with amber. "Um, can I help you?" She asked sweetly.

With a jerk of his wrist, Ichigo had Rukia pressed against his chest. His free hand cupped her cheek gently. He sneered inside, but outside he whispered down to her. "You and me. A date tonight. Meet me here at si-" Before he could even give her the time, the shorter girl had punched her tiny first into his jaw, just as Renji had did a couple periods back. Unlike the hit earlier in the day, this one sent him to the ground, both from shock and from the balance he lost. He looked up at Rukia to see a smiling Gin a couple ways behind her, trying not the laugh his ass off. The girl that stood above him scowled. "I have a boyfriend, pompous jerk." She turned on her heel, took a couple step, then as if remembering something that she needed to say, she paused and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, and Renji? He didn't learn to hit from this bitch." She had quoted him. She started to walk away as she continued to say, "If he did, would have lost."

Gin looked down at Ichigo, letting a few chuckles escape. "Yeah, man. I don't even get her mad. She's scary when she's angry."

Groaning loudly, Ichigo shook his head and slowly began to push himself off the ground. Rukia had stormed off, a smirking Gin jogging to keep pace. Ichigo sighed. "I think I just lost twenty bucks"

* * *

**Lele: Yay! I finished. I edited it a couple of times. I've had this idea in my head for about a month now, and originally, this was only supposed to be five pages long. I extended it by seven and a fourth. Anyway, to clear things up, here's a key... Kind of.**

**South Academy:  
****Senna (1), Toshiro (1), Ichigo (2), Chad (2), Matsumoto (2), Tatsuki (2), Grimmjow (3), Shuuhei (4), Kaien (4), and Ikkaku (4).**

**North Academy:  
****Momo (1), Orihime (2), Uryuu (2), Kira (2), Rukia (3), Renji (3), Nemu (3), Isane (3), Nel (3), Byakuya (4), Gin (4), Nanao (4), and Yumichika (4).**

**The numbers beside their names are in what year they're in.**

**So far, the couples are just Gin and Rukia.**  
**Past couples (so far) Ichigo and Senna, Shuuhei and Tatsuki. There are others, I've planned it all out in my head. You'll be surprised.**

**It's important to keep in mind that this will be a IchiRuki story. (: It just needs time to develop.**

**So, please tell me if you love it or if you hate it in a review!**

**Ciao for now!**

******Oh,  
****For the love of Tiger Lilies!**


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